The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-22

been cleared land, and such wide reaches Of
forest which await clearing, that he foresees
for Mississippi a future agricultural produc-
ton with which her splendid record Of the
past will not compare. AS TO Investigation
of crops, the strangers mind is Immediately
impressed with the possibilities in that direc-
ton, and the farther south he speeds the
stronger the impression grows. The
planters Of the State have heard a
great deal about this matter-the
theoretical farmers have been preaching
II for many years. But there is not much
progress in that direction perceptiblc. There
is n fascination about the raising OF cotton
that attaches to NJ other agricultural pur-
suit. No farmer ever becomes so welded to
his wheat or his corn, or his garden truck,
as a planter does 10 his cotton; and this fas-
cination abides, Notwithstanding the toll
and trouble, disappointment and risks that
characterize the business. The planter, in
deed, might well reply to those who tell him
TO put his lands TO other uses that cotton
has definite climatic limitations, and that
the Lord intended that cotton should be
grown within those bounds. But whatever
the reason, cotton constitutes now, as IL did
years ago, the main agricultural product Of
Mississippi, and there will probably not
be that divcrsifcation Of crops which
Judge Kelley has recently urged ia the Bal
timore Manufacturer Record, until a sue
cession Of seasons demonstrates that there is
no hope Of profit in cotton. Should that
time come, Mississippi will still maintain
her high rank rs a fructifcrous State, for her
climate and her generous soil will ever
abide.
These thoughts fit through the travellers
mind as he whirls along his way.
Expect no scenic splendors when you
make this run TO the gulf in December.
These rich bottom lands are fiat, and there Is
nothing less picturesque than a ~cotton-icld
from which the cotton has been picked. The
forests grow grccner the further south you go,
but IL is not the green Of the summer, re-
lieyed by the tints Of flowers. Yet the
thoughtful traveller sees so much OF pro.
ductivencss that he finds more
TO interest him and 10 make
him proud of his country
than In barren mountains, be they ever so
impressive in spectacular alignment.
When one crosses the Louisiana line and
sweeps across the plains he sees the sugar
houses lifted up in bold relief against the
sky, with immense coils Of smoke streaming
from their gigantic stacks-a picture charm
ing in its composition. But all the rest Of
the way II is cane and rice and forest, and
forest, rice and cane. So il is TO the very edge
Of New Orleans. From Memphis TO the Crcs-
cent City, indeed, IL is all agriculture--an
uninterrupted succession Of plantations
and when suddenly the train stops and
the traveller debarks in the very heart
Of that curious metropolis-so unlike any
other southern or any other American city
the transformation is thrilling in its com
plctcness and CELEBRITY. ON the way the eye
has grown accustomed 10 broad reaches oil
landscape aud the largcness Of nature, but in
New Orleans everything is c~ompacted as
though ground were precious.
II is a dull mind, indeed, that cannot en-,
joy this trip, with is car window entertain,
ment en- route and its surprise ut the end.